Process for treating dispersions



Patented Dec. 11, 1934 PATENT OFFICE I 1,984,024 PROCESS, FOR TREATING DISPERSIQNS Hyman Limburg, Amsterdam, Netherlands, as-

signor, by me'sne assignments, to The ,Patent and Licensing Corporation, New .York, N. Y., a corporation of Massachusetts No Drawing. Original application February 20,

1929, Serial No. 341,573. Divided and this application July 23, 1930, Serial No. 470,243

6 Claims.

This application is a division of my former application, Serial No. 341,573, filed February 20, 1929.

This invention concerns a process for the preparation of emulsions, especially emulsions of asphalt, tar paraflin, and the like, for use in road construction, for surface dressing of roads, as protective coating, as paints, et cetera.

As is known, emulsions of, for instance, asphalt, for several uses, possess advantages over straight asphalt, one of the most important being the application of the material at ordinary temperatures. The use of emulsions instead of asphalt as such is based on the fact that, after application in films of varying thicknesses, the dispersed particles coagulate or coalesce in a shorter or longer time, thereby forming a more or less closed layer of asphalt. Although not much is known about the factors causing the coalescence of the dispersed particles, it islikely that one of the most important factors is the evaporation of the dispersing phase, which is usually water, causing an increased concentration of the dispersed phase and of the other non-volatile substances present in the original dispersion, eventually resulting in a more or less complete coagulation of the dispersed particles.

It will be clear that a process whereby the coagulationof the asphalt particles is based on the evaporation of the water possesses many drawbacks. In the first place the time necessary for the formation of a coagulated asphalt film will depend upon the weather, especially the humidity of. the surroundingatmosphere. Inthesecond place, the coagulation will in most cases be a slow one, especially with certain types of Attempts have been made to overcome these difficulties by using asphalt emulsions which contain only a small amount of stabilizing agent; as for instance, soap, such emulsions giving a relatively quick setting 'of the dispersed phase. As a result of the small amount of, stabilizer, those emulsions are quite sensitive to all kinds of coagulating influences such as freezing, the addition of electrolytes, the addition of finely divided sub stances, et cetera. For that reason the use of these emulsions is limited, because in several instances it is required-that the emulsion be stable against said coagulating influences as come in contact with calcium-ion, containing liquids and therefore, they should be stable against electrolytes, in order to prevent premature coagulation. I

There are emulsions which are resistant against the various coagulating influences, but they, on the other hand, show the drawback that they set very slowly and generally the film derived from those emulsions does not show the required irnpermeability and in many cases can be reemulsified easily.

According to this invention, emulsions can be made which do not show the aforenamed drawbacks and which are resistant against various kinds of coagulating influences, such as freezing, storage, electrolytes, finely divided substances,

but which, when coming in contact with the air,

separate out the dispersed phase as a closed impermeable layer in a short time and in a form which can not be re-emulsified by the continued action of water.

Briefly, the invention consists in the addition to the emulsion or in the preparation of the emulsion in the presence of one or more substances which, when the emulsionis spread into a layer of greater or less thickness, and subjected to pro longed contact with the air, give rise to the formation of substances which can act as a coagulant for the emulsion.

The purpose of this invention can be achieved in various ways as will be clear from the followmg:

As known in general, for instance, the particles in anasphalt ,emulsion carry a negative charge with regard to the dispersing phase. Substances which can coagulate negatively charged emulsions, are in the first place, polyvalent positive ions, positively charged colloidal particles, and so on. In all.these cases the coagulation is probably caused by the decrease in the electrical charge which occurs when the particles of opposite charge are incorporated in the emulsion. According to this invention, one or more substances which, when coming in contact with the air, yield in a more or less short time, polyvalent positive ions or positively charged particles, preferably of the colloidal order are combined with the emulsion before application. Examples of these substances are: Alkali aluminate, alkali zincate, alkali plumbate, et cetera. All these substances can be added to an ordinary negatively charged emulsion in an alkaline medium, without causing coagulation. This may be explained by the fact that ions of the polyvalent metals present inthese salts are combined with oxygen to a complex ion in which which is inherent to the poly-valent metal ion itself Other examples of substances which can be used for the purpose of my invention arethe solutions of substances like copper hydroxide, zinc hydroxide, and the like, in ammonia. These substances, however, cannot be added to an emulsioncontaining, for instance, free sodium hydroxide, carbonate or the like, as in these cases the copper hydroxide is precipitated, which generally results in a coagulation of the emulsion. Hence, in this case, the foregoing difliculty can be avoided by using an emulsion containing ammonium hydroxide instead of sodium hydroxide. As the preparation of emulsions generally is more diflicult when using ammonia than when using sodium hydroxide or the like, a special process has to' be used for obtaining the emulsions of the desired composition. This special process may consist, for instance, in the dispersing of the non-aqueous phase into an aqueous solution of ammonia soaps with the help of a colloid mill.

Generally, the requirements which must be fulfilled by the emulsion, to which the substance, according to my invention, is to be added, can be classified in two groups:

1. The emulsion must be of such composition as to be stable against the addition of said substances, and

2. The emulsion must not contain electrolytes or other materials which may act upon the substance to be added in'such a way as to change its chemical or physical properties and thus prevent the required action on the emulsion after application.

The action upon the applied emulsion of the above named substances will be clear. In the case of sodium aluminate the CO2 which is always pres-' ent in normal air, will react with sodium ions to form sodium carbonate, resulting in a separation of aluminum hydroxide. In a similar way the CO2 will react upon solutions of sodium zincate,

plumbate, and the like. When using solutions of copper hydroxide or the like in ammonia, the action is somewhat different. In these cases the ammonia will evaporate resulting in precipitation or deposition of the copper hydroxide which is, as known, only soluble in an aqueous solution containing a sufficient amount of ammonia.

Another 'way of carrying out the invention may be explained as follows: Several substances, such as albumins, basic dyestufis, polyvalent metal hydroxides, and the like,. possess an electrical charge which is dependent upon the hydrogen ion concentration of the medium. Thus, .for instance, albumins are positively charged when the pH is lower than about 4.7, and similar conditions govern the charge of the other named materials. Probably, in accordance therewith, the aqueous dispersions in which these substances are present possess electrical charges which show the same changes with varying pH as the said substances themselves. It is further known, that, generally speaking, the tendency to coagulate is the greater the smaller the electrical charge of the particles. Therefore, the object of my invention can be reached by using emulsions in which one or more of said substances are present in such a medium as to assure a sufiiciently high charge of the particles, but which emulsions when coming in contact with air, alter their pH so as to diminish the electrical charge of the particles, or even make it nil. These results can be attained by establishing the required pH in the emulsion by the addition of a substance which on coming in contact form theydo not possess the coagulatinginfluence -..with the air will evaporate or will react with CO2 present in the air, resulting in an alteration of the pH of the emulsion in the direction of the pH corresponding with the iso-electric point of, the added substances. In this way the electrical charge of the particles will be diminished gradually until finally the charge will become nil. It is obvious that this will result in more or less quick coagulation of the dispersed particles.

A further method of carryng out the invention may be explai red as follows:

It is known that when substances of a hydrophobic character, such as finely divided carbon, are added to an emulsion, coagulation generally results. The character of substances like carbon can, however, be made more hydrophilic by the addition of suitable hydrophilic substances such as gelatin, tannin, saponin, soap and the like. In these cases, however, the hydrophilic character of the carbon remains unchanged by air. According to the invention hydrophobic substances are added to the emulsion in combination with a hydrophilic substance, the last named substance, however, being one which becomes partly or completely inactive when the emulsion comes in contact with air, and thus the hydrophobic character of the first named substance is restored. This purpose can be reached by applying sucstances like ammonium -oleate,-ammonium sulphonate, or the like, from which, when in contact with air, the ammonia evaporates leaving oleic acid, sulphonic acid or the like. The latter acids, when the original amount of soap is properly chosen, are no longer able, however, to impart a sufliciently hydrophilic character to the carbon. Therefore, after exposure to the air, the emulsion will contain a substance of hydrophobic character resulting in a coagulation of the emulsion.

The following examples may illustrate the invention:

1. Mexican asphalt of amelting point of about 40 C., (ball and ring) is mixed with .5% naphthenic acid and emusified in an aqueous solution of sodium hydroxide containing a small excess over the amount required to neutralize the acids present in the asphalt. Thereupon, a small amount of, for instance, .5 to 2% of a stabilizer such as gelatin, casein, tannin, or the like, is

addedjand so much of a 10% solution of NaaAlOa I is added"that,reckOned on asphalt, 0.01 to 2% of said substance is present in the final emulsion. when the emulsion so prepared is applied as a film, the sodium aluminate will be converted by contact with air, to sodium carbonate and aluminum hydroxide, which latter then serves to accelerate the coagulation and coalescence of the asphalt particles in the film.

2., Venezuelan asphalt is emulsified in an aqueous solution of ammonium sulphonates of a concentration of 0.5 to 2%, with the help of a colloid mill. When necessary the aqueous solution may contain a small excess of ammonia. Thereupon, so much of a' 10% solution of copper hydroxide in ammonia is added that, reckoned on asphalt, 0.01 to 1% of copper hydroxide is present in the final emulsion. In this example, upon the evaporation of ammonia, copper hydroxide drops out of solution and acts to set or coagulate the emulsion film in a much less period of time than is normally required.

3. Mexican asphalt of a melting point of about 50 C. (ball and ring) is emulsified in an aqueous solution containing about .5 to 2% ammonium sulphonate and a small excess of ammonia.

Thereupon 0.01 to .5% methylene blue is added, reckoned on finished emulsion. In this case, upon coming in contact with air, the ammonia evaporates, resulting in a decrease of the pH of the emulsion and a consequent decrease of the charge upon the particles sufiicient to induce rapid coagulation and coalescence thereof.

4. Venezuelan. asphalt of a melting point of about 40 (ball and ring) is emulsified with the help of a colloid mill, in an aqueous solution containing .5 to 2% ammonium naphthenate. A mixture of finely divided carbon with 5% ammonium naphthenate is prepared and so much of the mixture is added to the emulsion that, reckoned on asphalt, 2% carbon is present in the finished emulsion. According to this procedure, the ammonia of the ammonium naphthenate is eliminated shortly after coming in contact with air, thereby reducing the hydrophilic properties of the carbon and rendering it sufiiciently hydrophobic to cause rapid coagulation and coalescence of the asphalt particles.

5. Mexican asphalt of a melting point of about 40 C. is emulsified in an aqueous suspension of clay, bentonite or the like and the resulting emulsion is combined with an amount of a sodium aluminate solution sumcient to provide 0.01 to 2% sodium aluminate in the emulsion on the basis of the weight of asphalt contained there- 1n. When the emulsion thus treated is applied as a layer or film over any surface to .be treated therewith, the efiect of the sodium aluminate will be substantially as described under Example 1.

I claim as my'invention:

1. The process which comprises mixing .an aqueous bituminous dispersion with a volatile alkaline reagent and with a potential coagulant brought to active coagulating condition upon evaporation of said volatile reagent, applying said treated dispersion in the form of a film and permitting said volatile reagent to evaporate from the film whereby to cause acceleration oi coalescence of the dispersed bitumen particles before complete removal of the water from the dispersion film.

2. The process which comprises mixing an aqueous bituminous dispersion with a volatile alkaline reagent and with a potential coagulant selected from the group of substances which possess an electrical charge dependent upon the hydrogen ion concentration of the system, applying said dispersion in the form of a film and permitting said volatile reagent to evaporate from the film whereby to cause a decrease in the electrical charge upon the particles sufiicient to accelerate coagulation of the dispersed bitumen particles before complete removal of the water from the dispersion film.

3. The process which comprises mixing an aqeuous bituminous dispersion with a volatile alkaline reagent and with a potential coagulant selected from the group of substances which precipitate positively charged colloidal particles upon evaporation of said volatile reagent, applying said dispersion'in the form of a film and permitting said volatile reagent to evaporate from the film whereby to cause positively charged particles to be precipitated to efiect acceleration of. the coalescence of the dispersed bitumen particles before complete removal of the water from the dispersion film. I I

4. The process which comprises mixing an aqueous bituminous dispersion with a hydrophobic substance and a hydrophilic substance capable of imparting hydrophilic properties to said hydrophobic substance, said hydrophilic substance being decomposable upon contact with air, applying said dispersion in the form of a film and permitting said hydrophilic substance to decompose whereby to restore the hydrophobic characteristics of said first named substance suflicient to cause rapid coagulation of the dispersed bitumen particles before complete removal or the water from the dispersion film.

5. The method of preparing aqueous bituminous dispersions comprising dispersing bitumen in water in the presence of an emulsifying agent, incorporating with said dispersion a volatile alkaline substance and a reagent, the latter of which precipitates in the absence of the volatile substance whereby to accelerate coalescence of the dispersed particles before complete removal of the water when the dispersion is spread as a layer in contact with air.

6. A process of treating aqueous bituminous dispersions, comprising incorporating therewith substances including a reagent with a variable 

